


Fledglings: Three Meditiations on Family

by MiraMira



Series: genhp_ldws entries [3]
Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Family, Gen, Missing Scene, One Shot, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-28
Updated: 2010-06-28
Packaged: 2017-10-10 07:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMira/pseuds/MiraMira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry, Hermione, and Ron are about to leave home for what may be the last time.  They're dealing with it in very different ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fledglings: Three Meditiations on Family

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 3 of the Gen Fic Last Drabble Writer Standing competition at LJ.

One month. One month more, and Harry will never have to give another thought to the Dursleys. Would prefer not to, in fact, as they are currently occupying focus he needs for more pressing matters.

Yet never before has he tried harder to appreciate them.

Most of his interaction has been with Vernon, which isn't helping. In dark moments, he catches himself wondering what friends might be spared if he stops arguing, lets them remain in their precious house as sacrifices to the Death Eaters' savagery.

It doesn't make him like Voldemort, he reassures himself later. Disliking individual Muggles is nowhere near wishing genocide on them all.

But he is The Boy Who Lived because of his mother's love. And his own ability to love, according to Dumbledore, will help save the world. So Harry confronts this emptiness in his heart, and inwardly trembling, tries once more to fill it.

-

The day she arrives from King's Cross, Hermione begins planning how to erase herself from her parents' lives.

She's done some research, naturally. Memory Charms are subtle, complex spells – her specialty – but potentially unstable. If she wants her parents to embrace their new identities, she can't leave any triggers.

The first step is persuading the bank to turn her university savings over to her control. She purchases fake identification papers with the money, then uses those IDs to set up an account for "Monica Wilkins" and deposits most of what remains there.

After that, it is a matter of bidding her childhood toys and books farewell and volunteering to "digitize" the family photographs. She'll take care of the mail and all other personalized items just before casting the spell.

The plan is as foolproof as possible. But still, she wonders: can she ever truly restore all that she has undone?

-

For once (ignoring the times he's been in trouble), Ron doesn't mind not being the center of attention. He doesn't envy Bill the fuss of wedding preparations, and he's got plenty to do when not pressed into service, like talking the ghoul into impersonating him.

But Mum, whose sense for when one of her offspring is plotting something has been keenly honed by four of his older brothers (the fifth doesn't count anyway), eventually demands to know what he's doing with that spare time. So he tells her. Or rather, when she starts shrieking too hard to let him finish explaining, he tells Dad and leaves the task of persuasion to him.

Not that her disapproval can change anything. Even if he hadn't promised Harry, staying put can't guarantee his safety, and he knows she knows it.

But he hopes she also knows how much he loves her for trying.


End file.
